User reviews

Everyone remembers that eighties sci-fi classic 'Back to the Future,' because - let's face it - it's awesome. It deserves it's spot in pop culture. Yet many people don't seem to hold that other eighties sci-fi popcorn flick 'Innerspace' in such quite high regards. And that's a shame... in my humble opinion, because it really is quite good fun.

In these days of 'shared universes' (thanks, Marvel!) I find myself seeing films that look like they could belong in the same 'universe' as others (like 'Universal Soldier' and 'Terminator 2' - again, just my opinion). And, after my most recent re-watch of 'Innerspace' I couldn't help but thinking how much it would fit alongside that time-travelling DeLorean and uber-cool hoverboard.

It's about a test piolt (Dennis Quaid) who gets miniaturised inside a pod during a lab experiment and then (inadvertantly) injected into some random guy's backside (Martin Short). The two of them form an unlikely bond as they try to reverse the effects before Quaid runs out of oxygen (or the baddies get hold of them!).

Now, it's fair to say that 'Innerspace' didn't set the Box Office as on fire as its producers would have liked. I don't think it bombed, but the film-makers were hoping for something akin to 'Back to the Future' in terms of success-levels. However, there's just something so fun about it that it deserves to be remembered, especially during this period of eighties nostalgia.

It's first strength is that it never slows down. It's perfectly edited so that you get almost straight into the action and learn to love the characters without any need for lengthy exposition or backstory. And the action flows thick and fast. There's one chase scene that reminded me of 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.' In 'Indy 4' they had to rely on awful computer graphics whereas 'Innerspace' managed it with stunts.

Another thing that's worth mentioning is how when there's no action, there's humour. And this is down to the rapport between the actors. Everyone plays their part well. And, possibly the most important thing about 'Innerspace' is that it's a film that the whole family can enjoy. There's no need for violence or bad language. It acomplishes everything it needs to without any over-the-topness.

If you saw this back in the day, give it another go. Or if you're just looking for something to entertain the kids on a wet weekend, this should be enjoyed by all (even if you're not part of this current eighties revival!).

Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) is a hotshot Navy pilot on an unusual and top secret mission; he is to be shrunk down and injected into the body of a rabbit, but when things go wrong he ends up inside Jack Putter (Martin Short) instead. Jack must now work with Tuck in order to stay alive; and it's a great ride.

All the cast are good in this film, but Martin Short is brilliant; it's wall to wall action, adventure and laughs, and with a little romance thrown in, it's a winner. The special effects are outstanding for the time and Joe Dante's direction is excellent.

Innerspace is fun for the whole family 7/10

This movie offers perfect entertainment.

The main characters and the performances by the actors are very good and comical. The movie is filled with some crazy 'not-so-everyday' characters and the villains are deliciously stereotyped and highly entertaining and there are some simply hilarious moments throughout the movie.

The movie can be described as an adventure science-fiction comedy. Surely the movie will not be remembered as one of the best of all time but I will always remember this movie as a very entertaining one and of which I have some very fond childhood memories.

The nice 'unknown' musical score by Jerry Goldsmith is very good, I actually watched this movie in honor of his death the day he had died, on 21 July 2004.

As long as you don't expect a masterpiece and merely want to be entertained, this movie is perfectly recommendable. Also very watchable for the entire family.

7/10

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Why INNERSPACE was not the hit it should have been will remain a mystery for years to come. And old concept (FANTASTIC VOYAGE) is given an update with spectacular (for the time, but still good) special effects and an excellent cast. Martin Short is a real delight as a neurotic supermarket clerk who at first thinks he's possessed, only to discover that the only thing in his body is a miniaturized Navy test pilot, Dennis Quaid, who was accidently injected into him instead of a lab rabbit. Meg Ryan is cute as ever, and Robert Picardo co-stars in one of his best roles, The Cowboy. The late screenwriter Jeffrey Boam keeps the story simple but allows for some good suspense and laughs, and director Joe Dante keeps the pacing just right. The battle between Quaid and an enemy inside Short's stomach is the highlight of the film. I remember how much I wanted to be Quaid's Tuck Pendleton (and have his little pod) when I first saw the movie. The ending seems obvious for a sequel, but due to the film's surprising box office failure, it was not to be. Still, this is a really fun movie for the whole family, and I hope a Special Edition DVD is not far away.

This is one of those "no bones" comedies that we can watch with the whole family without any fear of embarrassing or inappropriate scenes for kids or deeply critical grandparents. It's a film from the 80s, quite dated, but that's not a problem for people like me, who actually like old films.

The story is very good and revolves around an experiment that goes wrong and involves the miniaturization of a ship with a human occupant, which should be introduced into a laboratory rabbit: when the laboratory is robbed by bandits who want to steal that technology, one of the scientists escapes and ends up injecting the liquid containing the ship into the body of an inadvertent citizen. What happens next is quite hilarious.

Dennis Quaid does a decent job as the ship's pilot, a daring combat aviator who volunteers for the experiment. I thought that the actor doesn't leave his comfort zone, he doesn't have a complicated task, and he just brags. Better than him, Martin Short shone as the fearful and shy man who, by chance, was dragged into that mess after being injected against his will. The actor managed to give the character an interesting evolutionary arc, where the character gradually gains more confidence and an adventurous spirit. Meg Ryan has the worst material: she just needs to be attractive and look scared.

Joe Dante deserves a shoutout for the work he did on this film. He's not a director I know very well, but I think this film is in line with what he likes to do most. The film may not be the most scientifically rigorous in the world (never, I believe, has the scientific community thought of anything similar to miniaturizing objects or people), but it makes up for it with humor and an unpretentious and good-natured spirit. The effects team did an excellent job, whether in the moments in which the ship is miniaturized or in the filming inside the human organism, where the realism is well achieved.

This is an updated "Fantastic Voyage" and interestingly done, I thought. Joe Dante directed a number of fun movies to watch.

It's not the innocent Steven Spielberg "E.T."-like movie I expected because of the language and several sex jokes. In other words, this is not a kids' movie.

Dennis Quaid stars and plays his usual cocky self. (He's mellowed in recent years.) Meg Ryan is her usual cute-but-of-little-substance self and Martin Short is just plain funny - the best guy in the movie.

The film offers a good combination of humor and science-fiction suspense. It's a fun movie I would rate higher if it weren't so silly in spots.

The idea for "InnerSpace" is a novel one for a movie, and I can't shake the feeling that this is the kind of movie that could only have been pulled off in the '80s. Can you imagine how bland a remake today would be? Anyhoo, the whole package is a good bit of fun.

It's stuffed with both plot and memorable characters (the gunhand robot guy, the cowboy, the charming Meg Ryan, and Martin Short, who shoulders the story's wacky physical comedy like a pro).

This is a movie that you just sort of get lost in, and really feels like a big Hollywood riff on Disney rides. Which could be its own genre, at this point.

7/10

What a funny thrill ride this movie is! A man (Dennis Quaid) volunteers to be shrunk down to the size of a cell and injected into a rabbit. But terrorists are after this scientific breakthrough and by various hijinks he winds up being injected into the butt of a nervous grocery clerk, played by Martin Short. And that's just the beginning.

Innerspace shows Dennis Quaid at his most winning, and Short at his funniest. And of course, there's a very young Meg Ryan as their love interest. The jokes resonate with both kids and adults, and unlike most action-adventure films, the plot here is never short of ideas. And the effects are pretty neat too: as we see Quaid's character wander within the human body, we feel as much amazement and wonder as he does. LOTS of movies attempt to put you in outer space and worlds far away, but I can't think of one that has made the creative attempt of exploring our inner space.

I first saw "Innerspace" when I was 11. I didn't know who any of the lead actors were. I'd never seen Saturday Night Live. And I thought it was a great movie. Twelve years and hundreds of movies later, I still think it's wonderful.

This 1987 film is a wonderful combination of sci-fi, comedy, romance and thriller elements. It is briskly paced despite being almost two hours in length, and features superb performances from the leads; Dennis Quaid is excellent as usual, as is Meg Ryan in her best role. Yet the plaudits must go to Martin Short in a truly great performance he has never matched. He just needs the right role. The supporting cast are great as well; the delightful villainy of Vernon Wells who is unrecognisable as usual! Also Robert Picardo camping it up superbly as The Cowboy, one of his most memorable creations, plus the great pairing of Fiona Lewis and Kevin McCarthy, who memorably says to his dog before feeding it: 'Never beg, never beg!' The cinematography and special effects/makeup are all great as well, and Jerry Goldsmith's score is brilliant, perfectly complementing the tone of the film, alternately exciting/sprightly/romantic. Joe Dante binds it all together with magnificent verve, plus Dick Miller makes his trademark appearance! A great, timeless classic. Highly recommended.

Innerspace is directed by Joe Dante and written by Jeffrey Boam and Chip Proser. It stars Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan and Kevin McCarthy. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Andrew Laszlo.

A hapless hypochondriac store clerk battles to save the life of the man who, miniaturized in a secret experiment, was accidentally injected into him.

The premise is of course absurd, but everyone involved knows this and proceed to entertain with a mixture of thrills, spills and a good old fashioned good versus bad value. Narrative is based around the race against time thematic as miniaturised Tuck Pendleton (Quaid) fights from within the body of Jack Putter (Short). He has to keep Jack out the hands of crooks who are after the secrets of the miniaturisation process, whilst simultaneously being on a clock before he runs out of air - or fall prey to Jack's anti-bodies system etc.

Dante strings together some terrific set pieces, while the realisation of the inside of the human body is smartly staged. Cast are on hugely engaging form, with the central relationship between Quaid and Short a pure joy and mined for constant laugh and peril tactics. The dual aspect is niftily handled by Dante and his crew, with the battle within Jack's body running concurrently with Jack's battles out in the real world.

What wonderful sci-fi froth this is, as Dante has a blast of a time with the effects tools to hand to take the concept of Fantastic Voyage and make a top line action comedy adventure. Great soundtrack too! 8/10

Joe Dante reworks Fantastic Voyage into a buddy comedy for Dennis Quaid and Martin Short. Quaid plays a cocky fighter pilot who is chosen to take part in an experiment where he will have to test a miniaturized craft. While inside the machine Quaid is shrunk down to microscopic size. But some bad guys try to hijack the experiment and Quaid winds up injected into the body of a hypochondriac grocery store clerk played by Martin Short. From there, hijinks ensue.

Quaid is annoying, as he almost always was and is. His Joker smile and constant mugging grates on the nerves in the early scenes. He's better when things settle down some. Martin Short is the best part of the cast. Very funny and likable. Always love seeing a pretty young Meg Ryan. Although it reminds me of what she's done to herself since, which is tragic. Kind of the same feeling I get when watching young Melanie Griffith. This is a fun movie. Joe Dante gets to play with special effects and comedy, which is right in his wheelhouse. It's not as interesting or innovative as Fantastic Voyage but it's a very enjoyable movie in its own right.

What one critic st the time called "the summer's best summer movie" is, sadly, exactly that: a contrived and familiar cross section of up-to-the-minute trends, with a shelf life just long enough to last beyond the initial video rentals in six months time. Under the direction of Joe Dante (one of the brighter stars in the Steven Spielberg galaxy) it exhibits quite a bit of slapstick flair, while wasting most of its comic potential on frantic over-plotting and miles of distracting hardware.

The idea is almost clever: during a top-secret miniaturization experiment cocky test pilot Dennis Quaid is accidentally injected with his self-contained capsule into the bloodstream of meek, nervous supermarket clerk Martin Short (never mind how or why). But the tone is often uncertain (is Martin Short's howl of pain when he feels tiny grappling hooks on the back of his eyeball supposed to be funny?) and the extraneous plot details – spies, car chases, a cybernetic villain, a beautiful girlfriend (naturally a reporter) – haven't changed much since the last action/comedy hit. The end result is mindless, unmemorable fun for undemanding viewers who don't expect anything more.

I just saw this movie today, and I must say, it was rather interesting. The scenery looked like something out of a Walt Disney World attraction, and the special effects were good, making this a very fascinating movie.

"Innerspace" is about a pilot, Tuck (Dennis Quaid) who is accidentally injected in grocery store assistant manager Jack (Martin Short) when the needle was originally intended for a rabbit. Jack had only 1 day to get Tuck out before his air supply ran out, making for an interesting plot.

Martin Short was hysterical in this strange comedy that kind of looks like "All of Me." He physically thrashes around, and the comedy suits him perfectly. Dennis Quaid is good in the role of Tuck, who is arrogant, and begins to appreciate things after this little "incident."

Of course, no movie would be complete without key scenes that add to the movie. And of course, no movie review would be complete without mention of these favorite scenes. The scene where Tuck and Jack get drunk off of Southern Comfort together was a riot, because I was wondering how much JAck actually drank. I like how he hiccupped and stumbled around, while Tuck asked, "Jack, are you drunk?" My other favorite scene was when Jack first hears voices and yells "I"M POSSESSED!" The fact that the first scene that introduces him in the doctor's office sets the stage, so we know he's a hypocondriac.

This movie was very funny and very cute at the end (won't give it away). Although it plays like a Disney attraction,it probably would be cool. I highly recommend this movie to Martin Short, Dennis Quaid, or Meg Ryan fans. Watch out for the vaccinations, and definitely don't ignore that little voice inside you, it could be a space pod. Enjoy!

Innerspace is an entertaining sci-fi comedy with good performances from Martin Short, Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. Also, the special effects are great. That is, if you think about the fact that the film was made in 1987. Naturally, the effects would be much better if the film was made today.

There are also many laugh-out-loud scenes in the film, but as all comedies Innerspace goes on for too long and in the end I just wanted the film to be over. Overall though, it's an entertaining movie that would have benefited from being about 15 minutes shorter than it is. (6/10)

Innerspace had been in heavy rotation during my younger years, but I hadn't watched it in well over a decade when I dusted off my DVD copy on a muggy, overcast Thursday in July 2023. My expectations were fairly low. I figured that any enjoyment would likely come from nostalgia greasing the gears of a movie that wasn't as good as I remembered it to be. To my very pleasant surprise, it was even better.

I've described director Joe Dante as Steven Spielberg in a fun house mirror, and that's certainly true here (Spielberg serves as a producer by the way). Innerspace is a fun popcorn adventure-comedy, but man is it quirky. Everything is *just* a bit askew, and the movie is all the better for it.

The cast is great. Quaid, Short and Ryan are the leads, and they do more than the standard "hero" stuff. Their energy is infectious and they share a great chemistry. But the supporting characters! Oh, man are they a blast. Even with only a few scenes they leave such an impression that you'd swear they were in more of the film than they are.

And a quick note about the special f/x. Of all the aspects of the movie I expected to age the worst, I figured it would be the f/x. And given that it's an f/x heavy film, that could be a problem. Come to find that worry was unfounded. Innerspace won the Oscar for best special effects in 1987, and it's well deserved. They are absolutely outstanding, and hold up and then some.

Innerspace is something too few modern movies are. Fun. If you've never seen it. Do. And if you have seen it. See it again.

From the team responsible for the hugely successful seasonal horror fantasy comedy film Gremlins (1984) comes Innerspace, a clever and witty remake of Fantastic Voyage (1966), with Dennis Quaid as the troubled astronaut who finds himself miniaturised and injected into the blood stream of a highly strung hypocondriac, wonderfully played by Martin Short.

This is a fun and entertaining movie with Oscar winning special effects by ILM, a clever script by Jeffrey Boam and likeable leads that include Meg Ryan who would go on to marry Dennis Quaid in real life but they divorced in 2001.

Directed by Joe Dante it contains his usual troupe of character actors Kevin McCarthy, Robert Picardo, Henry Gibson and of course Dick Miller, and with a production overseen by Steven Spielberg this is top notch family entertainment. Dante effortlessly mixes comedy, science fiction and romance ensuring a wide audience appeal.

Being a Joe Dante movie there are many in-jokes, movie references and cameos that add to the fun, especially for movie geeks like myself, and there's a lot of fun to be had as we venture into various parts of the body as Quaid's Tuck Pendleton firstly tries to come to terms with the host body he finds himself in then tries to help Martin Short's character foil a terrorist sub-plot that got him unwittingly involved in the first place.

Innerspace, which is such a cool play on words, was excellent.

In typical Silicon Valley style a Bay Area tech company developed miniaturization. Truly, it is early nanotechnology in which they shrink normal sized machinery to nanometer size in order to inject into a live host. The uses are innumerous, including being used as a weapon.

Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) was the test pilot for this new technology. He was supposed to be injected into a rabbit in a lab. What really ended up happening was that he was injected into a total stranger in a mall-- Jack Putter (Martin Short). There was one hilarious moment after the other as Jack thought he was going crazy all the while he had to elude some nefarious characters that wanted the technology that was inside of him.

It was a brilliant movie that blended sci-fi with comedy; two genres I love when done right.

The stage curtains open ...

"Jack ... it worked. You just digested the bad guy." (Jack burps)

"InnerSpace" (1987) was the first movie I ever saw Martin Short in, even though he had just done "Three Amigos" the year previous. And even though Meg Ryan was in "Top Gun", this was the first movie that she really came to my consciousness as well. Now, Dennis Quaid I was familiar with. I had remembered him from both "Jaws 3-D" and "Dreamscape" (of all movies), so I had at least one familiar face to help me through this action/comedy directed by Joe Dante back when it came out in 1987.

Lt. Tuck Pendleton (Quaid), a Navy aviator who has a penchant for the bottle and finding trouble, has volunteered to participate in a highly classified miniaturization experiment in which he shrinks down to a fraction of his original size with the intention of being injected into a laboratory rabbit inside a mini-pod. At the time of the transfer, however, the laboratory is raided by a rival organization who wants the technology for themselves. One of the scientists grabs the syringe that Pendleton is inside of and escapes. He makes his way to the local mall where Jack Putter, an assistant manager at a Safeway store, is finalizing his vacation/travel arrangements to get away from it all ... to relax and have absolutely NO excitement, or he could suffer a nervous breakdown. It isn't to be in the cards for Jack when the scientist, as his last living act, injects an unsuspecting Pendleton into Jack and then dies. That's when the REAL fun starts.

The first 10 minutes of the movie were actually fairly boring, and I was beginning to think I was in for a real dud. But then, things really picked up and it delivers from there on out. To me, this movie was sort of a "Fantastic Voyage" meets "All of Me". The antics and situations that come about as a result of a science experiment gone wrong were pretty zany, over-the-top, and in some parts, just kind of weird. "InnerSpace" is definitely a movie where you have to suspend disbelief, or you won't get any pleasure out of it. Dennis Quaid said it best when he said of this film, "Leave your brain at home and you'll have a good time".

This was the movie where Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan first met. They would go on to star in additional films together, and become married during the years of 1991 to 2001. All in all, this was an entertaining movie with some silly parts, but you can't help but smile and laugh along the way. I've seen it a couple of times since my first viewing of it, and it holds up fairly well, even today. I recommend it at 7 stars out of 10. This is a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

One of those quintessential family movies of the 1980s, INNERSPACE turns out not to have dated a bit since it was first release. The story, which is heavily indebted to the '60s movie FANTASTIC VOYAGE, sees Dennis Quaid shrunk down to miniature size and injected into the body of super-nerd Martin Short. What follows plays out as a live action cartoon, which is no surprise with Joe Dante at the helm. Dante is one of those directors who doesn't know how to make an unappealing movie, and INNERSPACE is one of his most entertaining efforts.

I've never been a huge fan of Dennis Quaid, and his performance here is hardly endearing: he plays a rude, arrogant, loud-mouthed drunk for much of the film, and casting Meg Ryan as his insipid girlfriend isn't much help either. Still, I do like Martin Short, and his turn here is rather endearing and genuinely funny, especially when infused with the clumsy slapstick style of humour. Dante has a great eye for a supporting cast, fleshing out roles for the likes of old-timer Kevin McCarthy (a ball as the bad guy), Vernon Wells as the hit-man, Fiona Lewis, Robert Picardo as an unlikely cowboy and, of course, Dick Miller.

The script is light and airy and never lets itself get bogged down in science. The journeys inside the body are excellent and have all the imagination of an outer space classic. Finally, we get Rob Bottin contributing some literally jaw-dropping FX work, which rounds out the package nicely. The 1980s may well have been the decade that taste forgot, but they sure knew how to make a fun movie back then.

Joe Dante can't get a rhythm going in his slapstick revisiting of `Fantastic Voyage' because the script by Chip Proser and Jeffrey Boam is talky from the onset. Ostensibly a showcase for the gifted physical comedian Martin Short, Proser and Boam seem to want to segregate Short's antics to certain sections to allow them to concentrate on exposition (which itself is quite uninteresting) and hence Short's excesses come in fits and starts. They're good while they last (his elastic facial expressions are priceless) but they're over too quickly. He's aided by Dennis Quaid as a washed-up Navy lieutenant who is miniaturized in an experiment but accidentally ends up in Short's body. The possibilities are inviting and usually up Dante's alley but the script doesn't want to take advantage of them (Short and Quaid can converse but a funnier concept--Quaid having the ability to manipulate Short a la Steve Martin by Lily Tomlin in `All Of Me'--never seems to occur to the writers) and instead we're forced to focus on the dull, blurry visuals that have none of the wit and inventiveness of the film that inspired it. With Meg Ryan (lackluster as usual), and, as the bad guys, Kevin McCarthy and Fiona Lewis, both of whom have very little talent for the kind of hamming that is usually one of the primary pleasures of a Joe Dante picture.